Payback (Book 2 of the Future Doctor Series)
by Nurse Betty Page
Summary: Sequel to Never Alone : The Doctor and Tina leave in the Tardis planning a happy life - but those plans go wrong when he finds that even after fourteen lifetimes, not all of his enemies are dead. After the Tardis is attacked, the Doctor suffers terrifying visions of the Master - and he soon learns his old enemy is very much alive, and determined to play out the ultimate revenge...
1. Chapter 1

**Payback**

 **Author Note: This is the Sequel to Never Alone and sees a future version of the Doctor in his Fourteenth regeneration, who has now left with Tina, looking forward to a happy future, because he assumes 'most of my enemies are long dead'. But after the Tardis comes under attack, he soon comes to realise that one of his enemies are very much alive – Missy has regenerated, once more reverting to male form – and wearing a face from the past – the face of the Master he battled in his Tenth lifetime...**

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 **Summary:**

 **Sequel to Never Alone. The Doctor, now in his Fourteenth regeneration, has left Earth and the year 2016 far behind as they leave in the Tardis and he promises to show Tina all of time and space. But their happiness is short lived when the Tardis comes under attack – proving the Doctor wrong after he had claimed to Tina that they ought to be safe because most of his enemies are long dead...**

 **After believing to have fought off an invisible attack on his ship, the Doctor out runs the unseen enemy and lands the Tardis on a peaceful, unspoilt planet where he assures Tina they will be quite safe, although Tina is more concerned that the Doctor has a seemingly minor injury that he can't account for, and since the hostile encounter, has started to act strangely, suffering nightmares and hallucinating, and talking of an old enemy returning from the dead.**

 **When the Tardis is attacked for a second time and the scans reveal nothing, the Doctor once again takes the ship into deep space, believing nothing can possibly follow – but then his worst fears are proved right when the face from his nightmares finally enters into reality as the Tardis is taken over by the Master – who has regenerated since his life as Missy, and has chosen to once more use the face of Harold Saxon. As the Master takes the Doctor and Tina prisoner, can the Doctor find a way to defeat his old enemy once and for all, or will the Master, who sees this as the ultimate revenge, win this final battle?**

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 **Rated: M**

 **Warnings: Some violence, some scenes and discussions of an adult nature, dark intense plot and some scenes of a sexual/romantic nature. A rollercoaster of a story, my usual standard for those who know my fics.**

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 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but passion for this fandom!**

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Chapter 1

"All of time and space!" the Doctor had said, and then he had snapped his fingers and the doors had closed and the blue box had taken off, rushing out into the vastness of time and space, out into the dark wilderness where the stairs glittered and the depth of the darkness was endless.

Tina had laughed as he hit a button and a viewing screen had opened giving a wide view of space peppered by stars. Then he looked to her and his dark gaze reflected starlight as it shone into the console room.

"This is it," he said as he stepped closer to her, "You and me, and all of time and space. We have a whole universe to enjoy and I want to show you the beauty and wonder of it all."

Tina smiled and the starlight made the faint lines around her eyes seem to lift away.

"I'm already feeling enough wonder when I look in your eyes,"she replied, "I get it now, I can feel it even more – all that eternity out there, you're a part of it."

That deep and age old look of wisdom faded as his eyes sparkled playfully.

"But I don't _look_ old as time?"

She laughed.

"Of course not!"

He ran his hand through perfect hair.

"And I'm looking okay considering this is regeneration number fourteen?"

"You _know_ you look fantastic!"

He smiled.

"And you still look as beautiful as you did on the day I first saw you," he said softly, then he pulled her close as they stood framed by the view of starlight, and they shared a kiss that lingered. Then he broke off from their kiss and glanced to her bags.

"This way,"he said, turning for the corridor.

* * *

The corridor was long and winding and as she looked ahead, _more_ of it stretched on.

"Where are we going?" Tina said, and her voice echoed in the vastness of the corridor.

"We're here," the Doctor replied, and he stopped at a nearby door and turned the handle. The door swung open and she looked inside, seeing a large room with soft lighting that had dimmed from many spotlights on the ceiling, the walls were covered with panelled wood that seemed very old, and were covered with swirled carvings that looked intricate in design. The furniture was all dark ebony wood, and also carved intricately. There was a tall wardrobe over one side of the room and a smaller one beside it, a dressing table and a padded sofa that looked antique.

On the other side of the room was a fireplace where a fire burned low, and the wall around the large fireplace was also covered with carvings – but these were metallic and blended into a wall that was covered with paper that looked decidedly gothic. Next to the fire place was a large rug that covered most of the floor, and close by was a row of book cases and an old leather recliner armchair.

But the area near the fireplace was not what drew her attention – over the other side of the vast room was a majestic four poster bed, she hadn't seen the likes of it since a trip to a stately home many years before, and in the firelight it looked as if this place had stayed this way for centuries.

"Wow," she said, looking about the place again as she turned to a nearby table and set down her bags and her camera, "This place is like something out of a mansion! Is this room where you live?"

"This is just the bedroom," he replied, "There's a door over there that leads to the en suite bathroom, too."

She looked at him in surprise.

"Don't tell me the bathroom is as big as a tennis court!"

He smiled.

"It's white marble – _and_ I've got a jacuzzi!"

She smiled too.

"I'm getting used to this. I suppose this place is even bigger than I first thought, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a swimming pool on this ship somewhere."

"There is!" he exclaimed, "And a library, and an orchard and a garden...it's got everything!"

"You'll have to give me a guided tour," she said, "I need to see more."

And she stepped closer, and his smile faded as the look in his eyes deepened and all trace of amusement left him. He took hold of her hand.

"Come with me," he said quietly, and led her over to the bed.

* * *

As they sat there together and the firelight reflected, the Doctor looked into her eyes, and she looked back at him, getting lost in that feeling that deep in his dark gaze, she felt as if she could be touching the sense of agelessness that he reflected. Although this new regeneration was much younger than the man she had first met, one look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know – he really _was_ as old as time itself.

"You can feel it, my connection with time," he said to her.

"Yes I can," she replied, and she reached out and placed her hand on his cheek, and for a moment neither spoke as their gaze locked. Then he leaned in closer and placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling her in as their lips touched.

He didn't break off from their kiss as she ran her fingers through his hair and he stripped off his jacket and let it fall to the floor, then he loosened his tie and slipped it off as she opened the buttons on his shirt and ran a path of kisses down his slender, firm body.

Tina caught her breath as he pulled her down on to the softness of the bed, and as she kicked off her shoes and stripped off her clothing, he turned on his side and gave his belt a tug, unbuckling it with impatience.

As he rolled on top of her, he took hold of her hands and pinned them gently down as he looked into her eyes, and in that moment she swore she saw time itself burning in his eyes. Then he kissed her cheek and his lips brushed against her hair as he whispered into her ear softly:

" _I've lived many lifetimes, I've known many loves, and I've also known loss. I will not lose you, Tina. I can't change the fact that you're human with one lifetime but I promise, you will be with me for the rest of your days."_

"That's good enough for me," she said, and then he took her in his arms, and as she closed her eyes, she felt as if she was being held by time itself.

Much later, after the fire had burned out and stood dark and the lights had brightened a little, the sheets were creased and barely wrapped about them as they lay together, and Tina laughed as the Doctor continued to relate a tale that, until now, had seemed too dark to consider sharing:

..."So after all those years of capture, I was free, I had my Tardis back and the Cyber Fleet vessel went _boom_ behind me...and I just walked off in search of a mirror, because I'd just regenerated!"

"And you didn't know who you were until you looked?"

He laughed.

"I was rather happy when I did see my reflection... _I think_..." playfulness sparkled in his eyes once more, "What do you think, Tina?"and he pushed the covers down to his waist and she ran her hand up his body, letting it rest on the centre of his chest where she felt the beat of his twin hearts.

"I definitely like it!"she promised him, and then he kissed her.

"I'm glad you get it,"he said as his smile faded, "It's the sort of thing I once thought only another Time Lord would understand...regeneration, change. Going from one body to the next, I die and another man takes over. But I'm planning on keeping this body for a long time. I don't want to think about battles and loss...I've had too much of that."

Suddenly his mood had darkened, and it reflected in his eyes.

"I've lost lives in the past because of enemies," he said, "I don't want to lose this one."

Tina turned on to her side and took hold of his hand as she looked into his eyes.

 _"So keep away from enemies."_

Hearing her say that lightened his mood at once.

"I was referring to a _very_ long time ago," he replied, "All my enemies are dead now – well, most of them. I don't think there's anyone left who bears a grudge towards me."

"Good," she replied, "because if they did, they'd have me to deal with."

The Doctor pulled her closer.

"Don't worry, Tina" he said softly, "My days of fighting are over. The universe is a peaceful place now, I have no one left to worry about."

And she smiled as she heard those words, then closed her eyes and slept for hours in the Doctor's arms.

* * *

Much later they were back in the console room, and Tina stood and watched as the Doctor ran his hand thoughtfully over the controls.

"Where to first?" he asked, and then he looked up from the console and met her gaze, "The past, or the future? We can go anywhere."

She thought about it and started to smile.

"Can we go back to the Eighties again? I could go back as I am now and really enjoy myself – with you."

"It doesn't work that way," he replied, "I can't risk travelling so close to the year I met you in my former life, it could endanger the timeline. Remember, there's another version of you back there – and there are certain rules, the timeline has to be protected."

Disappointment reflected in her eyes.

"But I thought you said we could go anywhere?"

"We can!" he said excitedly, "Anywhere in the universe, forget earth for a while, Tina – we have a whole universe to explore!"

"You choose," she said.

He turned a dial and threw a lever.

"No, I just let the Tardis decide!" he announced, and as the blue box sped through a whirling vortex she gave a gasp and looked at the screen in wonder. She had reached for his hand without realising it, and he held on to it as she took in the beauty of the time vortex.

"It's amazing!" she said.

"I know," the Doctor replied, "Time is beautiful."

And as they stood there watching the journey through the vortex, they looked at each other and smiled as their hands remained linked.

"This is wonderful." Tina said.

"And this is how life will be from now on, " he replied, "Wonderful..."

And the Tardis jolted violently, tearing their linked hands free from a shared grip as the Doctor fell against the console and Tina was knocked to the floor.

She looked up in terror to see the whole room shuddering, the sight of it blurring as the walls shook and warped.

"Doctor?" she said in alarm, and sat up as the floor shook and the walls trembled again.

He was already clinging to the console as the ship shuddered and lurched violently, bouncing off the side of the vortex and spinning out of control. Now the sight on the screen was terrifying as the tunnel rushed violently onwards and the Tardis bounced about like a ball bearing in a pinball machine.

The Doctor looked to the screen then down at the controls as he heard Tina call him again.

" _We're under attack!"_ he called back to her as the ship began to groan as the shuddering increased. He hit some controls and looked to a monitor, and his dark eyes clouded with confusion.

"What?" he said, "This can't be right..."

And the shuddering stopped, - and so did the Tardis.

He looked to the screen again as Tina got to her feet.

" _Impossible..."_ he whispered.

"What's happened?" she asked as she joined him.

He was still looking to the screen, then he turned away and faced her, wondering if he ought to explain or simply apologise for dragging her into a situation that never could have been predicted.

"The scanner says there is nothing out there. But something just took down our shields and locked on to us and we have _stopped_ in the middle of the Time Vortex. This _ought_ to be impossible."

"What do we do?" she asked.

Then the Tardis doors crashed open, and as she saw nothing but the vortex swirling beyond, Tina gave a shriek as she looked in horror at the sight of it.

"The enemy ship is cloaked and has a shield. We're _not_ going to die," the Doctor said quickly, and then he looked about the room, seeing nothing as again, the scanner on the console told him nothing was there.

"Have you got a gun?"

She had spoken breathlessly, looking to him with fear in her eyes.

"I have a sonic screwdriver."

"I think we need more than that, Doctor!" Tina exclaimed, and she too looked about the room, searching for a weapon but seeing nothing of use.

"We need a gun or something -"

" _Shh!"_

She fell silent, listening as the Doctor looked intently to the open doors.

"What _is_ this?" he whispered under his breath, but no sound could be heard as the open doors showed nothing but a view of the vortex.

The Tardis creaked and groaned in protest at being held in the vice like grip of the invisible enemy ship, and then as sparks began to fly from the console and the stink of burning wiring filled the air the Doctor lunged forward, trying to turn off active controls that were being attacked by something he couldn't see. As he turned a dial and leant over to reach for a lever, Tina gave a gasp.

" _I think something just -"_

A circuit exploded on the console and the Doctor was thrown backwards, something went _pop_ and stung at his temple as he felt a pressure about his throat, then he hit the floor and blinked away burring vision as the Tardis shuddered again, and the doors slammed shut.

"Doctor?" Tina was at his side, and he was sure she had said his name several times before he realised she was there.

"I'm fine," he said, and grabbed her hand, thankful for her help as he got up from the floor.

He leant against the console for a moment, getting his breath back, then he quickly worked some controls and breathed a relieved sigh to see lights coming back on.

"I have no idea what just happened," he said, "But it's let go of us and it _won't_ be catching us again!"

And he threw a lever and hit buttons. The Tardis began to speed through the vortex, rushing along so fast the view outside became a dizzying blur of colour.

"They won't catch us now," the Doctor said.

"You're bleeding," Tina told him. He saw concern in her eyes, and reached up and touched the place on his temple where he had felt a small, sharp pain.

He brushed away the blood on his fingertips and dismissed it.

"It's nothing, I must have hit my head when we stalled."

Then he turned his attention back to the controls, and the Tardis left the vortex, drifting once more in open space where stars blazed against inky night.

"I'm sorry if that scared you," he said as he looked to Tina and saw she was not yet over the shock, "Maybe I was wrong when I said my enemies are dead. They are _probably_ dead. But that doesn't mean we won't encounter hostile life forms occasionally."

"You mean it wanted to kill us? How can you be sure its really gone now?"

He frowned as he looked to the monitor – again, it was stating clearly that there was nothing unusual or uninvited on board the ship.

"I can't even tell _what_ attacked us," he said, "It was cloaked so well even the Tardis scanner couldn't find it...the _Tardis_ couldn't understand it? That can't be right..."

Then he felt an ache and put his hand to his temple.

"We should be quite safe where we are now, I'm going for a lie down."

* * *

As the Doctor lay on his bed on top of the covers, he closed his eyes and said _no thank you_ as Tina hovered nearby and anxiously asked if he needed painkillers.

"It was nothing, just a glancing blow...I must have hit my head on the console,"he told her.

" _But you didn't,"_ she said, and he opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"I must have done!"

She sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I felt something brush past me...like a person...then as the console blew and you got thrown back... _you didn't_."

He wanted to sit up, but his head was still aching.

"What do you mean, Tina?"

She thought about it, recalling what she had seen – the Doctor thrown back, and freezing there for a moment, as if held by an unseen force as something punched a hole in his temple...

"You kind of fell back and froze there...then there was this tiny hole and a trickle of blood. That's when you fell to the floor."

"I couldn't have hit my head on nothing!"

"Maybe something attacked you. Something invisible...like... _a ghost?_ "

He gave a sigh, this conversation was reminding him of one he had shared with her two lifetimes back...

"Tina, there are _no_ ghosts! My theory on this is, we must have run into an alien vessel in the vortex and it decided to board us and investigate. I have no clue who or what they were or why they did it – but the universe is vast and even I don't know of every species out there."

Then he closed his eyes again.

"Let me rest," he said to her, "I just need to get over this headache and I'll be fine."

She leant over him.

"Where's the kitchen?"

"Two doors away."

"I'll find it," she replied, and then she kissed his cheek and left the room.

* * *

Now he was alone, the Doctor gave a sigh as the light dimmed and eased his headache. Then as he rested and began to drift off into a deep sleep, every ache from the bone jarring collision with the unseen vessel left his body as his ability to heal rapidly kicked in, and all that remained behind was a slight ache at his temple, where he had a tiny wound that seemed insignificant, yet he could not account for it.

Then as he drifted deeper into a peaceful sleep, something broke through that peace. As laughter drifted closer and closer and became louder, the Doctor saw the face of an old enemy as he leaned in close, his eyes blazing with malice. Then the laughter stopped, and he spoke darkly:

" _Fourteen lifetimes, Doctor? You should have been dead long ago!"_

The Doctor gave a gasp and sat up sharply, blinking away sleep as in his head, the face remained close, there in his mind's eye, as he heard the voice clearly, a voice he thought he would never hear again:

"There you are...new face, new lifetime...And here am I, new regeneration with an old favourite face of mine...Here's the game plan, Doctor: _This is personal. I'm going to destroy your life and everything you hold dear._ I'm everywhere now. What's wrong, not happy to see me? You'll be seeing _so_ much more of me soon. This is going to be a _great_ reunion..." then his voice darkened further as he added, "See you _very_ soon, _old_ man!"

The Doctor blinked and the image was gone. He drew in a shocked breath as his face paled and he looked about the room, but saw nothing out of place and heard only the familiar hum that ran through the Tardis.

" _It can't be...you're dead, you must be dead!"_ he said in hushed voice as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

It couldn't be true:

 _He had just seen the Master, not Missy but once again the Master, and once more, he was wearing the familiar face of Harold Saxon..._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Much later in the console room, the Doctor was setting a flight plan as Tina walked in, and as she joined him she looked at him with concern in her eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied, and then as he set the Tardis on a journey to a new destination, he turned his head and met her gaze.

"I had a strange dream...about an old enemy. Even stranger was the fact that I woke up and the dream continued – I could still see him in my mind's eye, threatening me. It was very vivid...I thought he was really there."

Tina looked from the fading wound to his temple and then into his eyes again.

"Well, you did hit your head. Are you sure you feel okay?"

"I'll prove I'm okay!" he told her, and he hit some buttons on the console and stepped back, standing still as a glow passed over his body.

"What was that?" Tina asked.

"I just asked the Tardis to scan me for signs of injury."

There was a bleep and a monitor jumped to life, the writing on it illuminated in swirled Gallifreyan.

"And it says I'm absolutely fine," he turned to her, "Now please, stop worrying about me. It was just a bad dream."

"I'll try to stop," she replied, "But it's hard to do that when the person I care about has been hurt."

The ache in his head had subsided, now it was a mild pain that was tolerable, but it had been threatening to put him in a bad mood, but seeing the look in her eyes warmed his hearts through and banished all negative emotion at once.

"Let's go somewhere quiet," he said, "I've set a course for an uninhabited planet, it's a perfect place to rest for a while. It's probably all I need."

"I hope you're right,"Tina replied, and then the Tardis landed.

* * *

An hour later, the Tardis was standing on a hillside and the Doctor and Tina were sitting at the bottom of the hill, beside a stream, looking out over rolling fields that stretched on for miles.

"One day this planet becomes inhabited," he told her as the breeze ruffled his dark hair, "All of this will be gone – it will be a concrete jungle. Towns, cities, they'll tear up the green spaces to build and keep on building. And one third of the planet will be dedicated to the process of import and export through out the known universe."

The breeze was warm and sweet, and Tina watched the water flowing, then looked across the stream to the other side where the land was for now, an unspoilt paradise.

"That's a shame," she said, "What kind of a species would do something like that to a beautiful place like this?"

He gave her a knowing look.

"Humans," he replied.

"That figures," she agreed, "We're already on the way to wrecking Earth because we don't take care of the planet."

"And one day it _will_ be wrecked, I've been there and seen it," the Doctor told her, "So much progress at such a price."

"At least its lovely here for now," she told him, and she looked across the stream, smiling as she watched birds dip and weave in deep blue sky as a golden sun shone down and the breeze sighed through dark green leaves on heavy shaded trees that looked small in the distance.

 _Then it happened._

 _The Doctor blinked, and there was the Master..._

He was standing on the other side of the water, wearing his black suit and looking at his old enemy as malice glittered in his eyes.

"You can't out run me," he stated, and he ran a finger across his throat, "Soon!" he hissed.

The Doctor jumped up, staring across the fast running water.

" _You're not real!"_ he yelled in defiance, and his voice echoed about the empty landscape.

Tina got up too, and she looked across the water, saw nothing but rolling fields and looked in alarm at the Doctor.

"There's nothing there. What the hell is wrong with you?"

That ache in his temple was paining him again and he reached up and rubbed at the tiny wound and then looked at her in confusion.

"I saw him. He's dead, he _has_ to be dead, it was too long ago...too many battles... _he's dead!_ How can he be over there? It's my mind playing tricks on me, it can't be anything else... I need to go back to the Tardis."

And he turned away and began to make his way quickly up the slope, and Tina hurried after him.

* * *

As she watched him standing over the console demanding the Tardis scan him yet again, and then thumping the console in frustration when it picked up nothing out of the ordinary, Tina felt guilty for wishing this had never happened, that they could just be happy together, because she deserved some happiness.

It was a thought she hated herself for, but seeing the Doctor like this, angry and frustrated, was painful to watch knowing she could do nothing to help.

It had been more than an hour, and he was still standing there, demanding scan after scan, and reacting with anger to see it turned up nothing out of the ordinary.

"Doctor..."

She touched the sleeve of his leather jacket. He was leaning on the console looking down at the monitor, and he turned his head and frustration blazed in his dark eyes.

"This makes no sense!" he fumed, "If I had a blow to the head that caused hallucinations, the injury would show up. How can it show nothing? I _know_ what I saw out there! I'm hallucinating, it's got to be the accident that caused it. And this scanner is Gallifreyan equipment, it can't miss anything but it tells me there's _nothing_ wrong!"

"Then maybe..." she paused, stepping closer as she briefly put her hand to his cheek, and her soft touch brought him much needed comfort as he caught her hand and briefly kissed it as she drew it back, "Maybe there is nothing wrong with you," she told him, "And perhaps instead of being angry about it you should be glad you're okay. I don't know what you hit your head on when the ship was attacked but maybe the shock of it caused the bad dream, and seeing the Master out there. It could be a reaction."

His dark eyes widened in surprise.

"I care for you very much Tina," he said, "But you have _no_ idea how a Time Lord's physical body works! If it was caused by the blow to the head it would have been picked up on the scanner – and that was clear. Even if I had an injury that was severe enough to cause hallucinations, I would have healed by now, I heal rapidly, especially with minor wounds!"

She felt at a loss.

"Then...I don't know what else could be causing it. There isn't anything else."

Sadness shaded his gaze.

"There could be," he said in a hushed voice, "I wasn't - in the beginning - supposed to have all of these regenerations. But now I do have them and who knows? Maybe I'm immortal now, maybe I'll keep on regenerating forever. _But perhaps it comes at a price._ Maybe the hallucinations are nothing to do with the incident in the vortex – maybe it's me, perhaps something went wrong, some tiny error when I regenerated. Maybe this is how I'm going to be form now on, if something went wrong, if my mind was rewritten differently, even by a fraction, I could be like this for the rest of this lifetime, or even beyond it. Maybe I'll go mad -"

" _Stop it!"_ she said firmly, "Don't think like that, Doctor! Too many maybes! There's _nothing_ wrong with you, I think you just need to rest, and you'll be fine."

He took hold of her hand.

"I hope you're right," he said, sounding weary, "I'm going to do that, I'm going to rest and hope for the best – I have to, I really can't think about what this will mean if I'm right. A Time Lord with a fault like that could be dangerous to the universe."

Now they were leaving the console room and heading back up the corridor.

"Oh stop that!" she said to him, "Now you're a _threat to the universe?_ I don't think that's _ever_ going to happen!"

"I hope you're right," he said quietly, and they went back into the bedroom.

* * *

The lights were low and the firelight was soothing as it threw a warming glow around the room as the Tardis made the environment as restful as the Doctor needed it to be. He was on the bed, still dressed, on top of the covers and on his side as he lay there with his arms around Tina.

"Go to sleep,"she said softly, and ran her hand over his hair.

He closed his eyes and gave a sigh.

"I'll try," he promised, and then as his breathing slowed to a relaxed pace and he slipped into a light sleep, she continued to hold him as she kept her worries to herself, silently turning it all over in her mind:

The fact that she was far off in space and time with a man who may or may not be losing his mind was a terrifying prospect. But as she watched him sleeping, she knew her mind was made up – she could only make one choice – no matter how bad this got, she was staying right here at his side, she wasn't going to walk away no matter how this ended...

" _I'm here for you,"_ she whispered, _"You don't have to be afraid."_

Then she kissed his cheek, but the Doctor slept on , and she said no more as he rested and she hoped the situation would be resolved when he woke up.

* * *

The Doctor's sleep was a peaceful one, and lasted for several hours. By the time he woke up, Tina was no longer at his side and came back into the room with a cup of tea that she placed by his bedside. He sat up and looked at the offering and shook his head.

"Iced water, please. I need it cold, _very_ cold."

"Okay," was all she said, and she took the tea away and left the room again. The Doctor got up and went over to the wardrobe, opened it and looked into the mirror. He straightened his tie and then his leather jacket, then he ran his fingers through hair messed up by sleep and it fell into place again with ease.

Then he paused, studying his own eyes as he decided he looked fine – the bruise to his temple was gone now, and so was the headache. He didn't even look tired despite the nightmare and his broken sleep earlier.

He paused to look about the room. The lights brightened and the flames in the fireplace turned dark, it was the Tardis confirming he felt better, and doing her best to make him feel more awake. And there was not a hint nor a whisper of the Master's presence or voice.

Maybe it was gone – what ever _it_ had been...

On the way back to the console room, he met with Tina, who handed him a glass of iced water.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

He sipped from the glass, and the chill of it ensured he was now wide awake as he handed it back to her.

"Much better, thanks. Maybe that was all I needed, a bit more rest...I'm getting us out of here, I can't stay, not since I saw him. I know he's not real, but I just want to be up there, among the stars, with you."

Their eyes met and she smiled.

"That sounds good to me," she said, and as he walked off towards the console room, she returned to the Tardis kitchen with the glass of iced water.

* * *

The Doctor entered the console room alone, and then looked to the open doors, where outside he could see the rolling fields and the sun shining down – and thankfully, no hint of the Master's presence.

"Did you leave the doors open?" he wondered, and then he remembered Tina was down the corridor and was yet to rejoin him.

Then as low whine sounded from the console, the Doctor looked on in alarm as a crackle of power surged across it like a fork of lightning, and lights blinked and wires sizzled and sparks flew.

He stepped back, knowing he could do nothing until it stopped, because he couldn't assess the damage properly without having access to the console...

As the last of the sparks jumped and popped, the air filled with the stink of more scorched wiring.

"Great!" he complained, and got on his knees and opened up a panel and took out his sonic screwdriver to repair the damage.

"What are you doing – and what's that stink?" Tina asked as she returned to the console room.

"Some kind of electrical charge ran over the Tardis controls...There's some wring that needs fixing, I'm wondering if the first time this happened was nothing to do with being boarded – I mean, not intentionally. Maybe when it happened it caused some kind of electrical charge in the air that some how attacked the wiring. Perhaps it wasn't intentional. And I can fix this..."

She watched as the long, slender sonic screwdriver lit up and began to work on the wiring. The screwdriver was made of polished silver and a row of lights lit up along its length in many colours as he worked.

Tina stepped closer and looked down at him.

"So you want to see the good in everyone and call this an accident?"

He looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"I always try to see the good, Tina. I can fix this, although I don't think we'll ever know for sure what caused it."

And he activated the screw driver again and continued to mend the wiring.

" _It was me! I did it!"_

The Doctor turned off the screw driver and got up, put the sonic device in his pocket and looked about the console room.

"Did you hear something?" he murmured.

Tina watched as he looked about the room and felt a sinking sense of heavy despair.

"Not again!" she said, "Doctor, listen to me – no one else is here, there's just you and me, okay? I promise you, we're alone in here!"

" _She can't see me."_

He turned to the open doorway, where the Master stood inside framed by the view of the unspoilt landscape beyond.

He smiled as evil glittered in his eyes.

"Hello again!" he said gleefully, "What's the matter, losing your mind, Doctor? That'll be your age. I mean, after fourteen regenerations something had to go wrong, didn't it? " He took another step inside, and stood there looking at the Doctor, and to the Doctor, he was solid as life...

" _What_ are you staring at?" whispered Tina, but the Doctor could not reply as he continued to look in disbelief towards the open Tardis door, where the Master stood - and he was the only one who could see him.

"You're _not_ real!" he said defiantly.

The Master laughed.

"Yes I am. At least, I'm real to you. And that wiring down there...maybe when I attacked the Tardis the first time around, I damaged it in such a way that it was supposed to short out again, taking out more functions. Has it occurred to you that perhaps you do have a serious injury, and the scanner can't see it because it's broken? No...you didn't think of that, did you! I do hope its not serious, especially after all those plans you made to have a great time with Tina..."

The Master looked to Tina, who could not see or hear him.

"Last time I saw her I was Missy. And she _enjoyed_ herself with me. Mind you, that was a long time ago. Humans get old so fast. How can you even touch an Earth girl, let alone go back for her when she's old?"

"Don't you dare speak of her in that way!" the Doctor said angrily.

The Master chuckled.

"She's...let me see...I need to think about it...and he started to count on his fingers as he reeled off a list of insults, "Old, ugly, past it..." he stopped counting and amusement danced in his eyes as he saw fury burning in the Doctor's gaze, "Is something wrong? I was only being honest. You could do _so_ much better than her, Doctor! Or are you just getting desperate in your old age? Maybe you are with your new regeneration, so youthful and handsome, trying to give the illusion that you're still a young Time Lord. You're an _old man_! Fourteen lifetimes? I am _so_ glad I'm here to make sure this one is your last. And then," he said, glancing to Tina, "I'm going to have her all over again, whether she likes it or not, just for old times sake... I wonder if she'll realise I used to be Missy?"

" _You won't get the chance!"_ the Doctor yelled, and he launched himself at the Master, lunging at him, grabbing hold of him.

But he clutched at thin air as he hit the wall, and then he stepped back, thumped the wall in anger and looked about him.

" _Where is he? Where did he go?"_ he demanded.

Tina was staring at him as she shook her head. Then she saw his knuckles were red from hitting the wall, and she blinked away tears.

"Doctor," she said, "There's no one there."

"No, no..." he said, and he ran his fingers through his hair, went over to the console and ran a ship wide scan, "There _must_ be something the scanner picked up...some kind of trace," he said, "Oh, come on!" and he tapped his fingers on the console as he waited for the result to come up.

Tina couldn't read a single word of Gallifreyan but she knew the result by his reaction as he thumped the console in anger: _There was nothing there to be detected..._

"I don't understand," the Doctor said, "he was right over there!" and he indicated to the doorway, "I saw him, I heard him...And we're leaving!"

And he activated the controls and the doors closed and the Tardis took off abruptly, once more taking flight for deep space.

* * *

As he stood there with his hands on the edge of the console as he looked down in silence at the controls, Tina gently placed her hand on his arm, and he turned and looked at her.

"Don't worry, I fixed the wiring. We won't crash, you're safe. And I have to keep you safe, Tina."

"I can take care of myself," she reminded him, "It's you I'm worried about. What if the damage to the wiring affected the scanner the first time around and it's not working properly? What if you've got an injury you don't know about?"

His eyes widened in alarm.

"He said that!"

"Who did?"

" _The Master!"_

"He's not here!" she told him firmly, "And I just thought of that, no one said it me, it was my own thought and its one that scares me!"

"The Tardis is good at fixing internal problems with equipment," he replied, "It's possible but unlikely. Please don't worry about me – worry for _you,_ because you're with me - and maybe I'm losing my mind."

Then he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, "But after what happened just now I can't trust my own eyes any more. I don't know if he's real or not and I don't know why this is happening to me, but I _do_ know I need to keep you safe."

She reached up and drew his hands from her shoulders, lowering them as she held on in a firm grip as she looked into his eyes.

"You don't have to worry, I'm here for you, I'll take care of you, even if you are losing your mind, even if it's the regeneration and something went wrong, I'll look after you because I want to!"

Pain reflected in his eyes as he shook his head.

" _I'm sorry,"_ he told her, _"But I can't put you at risk. I have no choice, I'm taking you back home, Tina."_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"No," Tina said, standing her ground as she looked at him, "There's no way I'm going home and you're _not_ sending me home like a frightened little girl! When I was nineteen years old and you were two lifetimes back, you knew I was going to kill in self defence! You knew I was the girl who was going to have that look in her eyes because of what the future held, because I shot the man who attacked me, and _you_ didn't tell me about it -"

"The timeline -" the Doctor reminded her, "I couldn't risk harming it."

"What about _me_?" she demanded, "Okay, I was no saint, I'd been in trouble with the law. But _not_ for murder! Fighting, drinking, the usual...but not _that_! _You could have warned me!_ "

He hesitated as he considered how best to explain.

"And one small change to your destiny could have altered everything," he replied, "I cared for you too much to risk that. The gamble was too great. And I don't apologise for making the right choice!"

As she looked at him, her anger simmered down. She knew she would never stop getting that feeling that this man was as old as time – and she had no right to quarrel with one who was so much more than an ordinary man.

"Okay," she said, "You _do_ know better than me when it comes to timelines and future and fate or whatever you want to call it – but I'm _not_ going to leave you by yourself to handle this. We don't even know what's causing it. You're seeing someone who isn't there! I don't even think you should be flying this Tardis while you're like that. You need to land somewhere, find another scanner, something that isn't possibly damaged, and see if that one turns nothing up too!"

The Doctor looked to the console and then back at Tina.

"I'm more or less certain the Tardis scanner is functioning as it should."

"So you're not sure?"

He gave a sigh.

"All I know for certain is, I'm hallucinating. I'm seeing a long dead enemy and he looks as real as you and I - and I can't stop it from happening. That's not likely to be caused by an injury. As I said before, it's probably just in me, a consequence of an error during regeneration. After all these lifetimes I'm not surprised that something could have gone wrong. No one is meant to live forever, even a Time Lord. And you deserve better than a life with a mad Gallifreyan in a damaged regeneration. That's why I'm taking you home!"

As they stood in the unearthly glow of the console room, she looked to the view of inky space peppered with starlight, and then back at the Doctor.

"I can't leave you out here alone. You _need_ my help!"

He shook his head.

"Sorry," he replied, "It wouldn't be fair on you."

He turned to the console and closed the viewing port, then activated the flight controls.

 _And the Tardis stalled_.

The Doctor looked down at the controls, knowing nothing would show on the scanner yet again...

" _Not again..."_ he said under his breath, and he tried the controls once more.

The Tardis lurched and the engines groaned, and as she was thrown against him, Tina clung to him as he leant heavily on the console and tugged on a lever, and the Tardis was once again upright, the slope was gone, and with its usual wheeze and groan, the blue box landed.

As the sound of the engines faded out, the Doctor looked to Tina.

"This won't be for long, I just need to see if I can put a stop to these hallucinations, once I've done that I will come back for you."

The look he saw in her eyes made his twin hearts ache.

"Last time you said that, almost thirty years went by," she told him, "I'm not waiting thirty years for a maybe."

He gave no reply as he considered how short human lives were, but then he thought back to other lifetimes and those he had lost by holding on...Rose, Donna, Clara - to name but a few. He didn't want Tina to be added to the list of humans who he had lost one way or another because he was the Doctor...

"Okay," he said, "We'll try else something first. I want us to stay here, just for a while – no travelling, just wait and see if it happens again."

"And what if it does?" she asked him.

"I have a plan," he replied.

* * *

A short while later, the Doctor and Tina stood in the bedroom together and he took off his jacket and tossed it on to the back of a chair.

"You're seriously going to do this?" she said to him.

"Yes I am," the Doctor replied, and he sat down on the bed, loosened his tie and opened up the top button on his shirt, then he laid back and raised his arms above his head, and looked to Tina.

"You know what to do."

She looked to the hand cuffs looped around the back of the metal headboard.

"You want me to cuff you to the bed and leave you there until you prove to yourself the Master is just an illusion?"

"Yes," he replied, "I believe if I'm forced to face my demons I'll see them evaporate. Get the cuffs on me."

Tina joined him and stood at his bedside and carefully closed the cuffs on his wrists, locking them cautiously.

"Why do you even have cuffs?" she asked.

He looked up at her and laughed.

"I've had them for a long time. But I must admit this wasn't how I imagined using them."

She started to smile.

"Oh, I get it. You wanted to cuff someone else to the bed?"

Amusement danced in his dark eyes.

"Right."

"You mean you wanted to cuff me?" she said teasingly.

" _Actually it was a few lifetimes back and her name was Donna and yes I did. I cuffed her and gagged her and she loved it."_

"Oh...I see..."

Tina looked a little hurt by his reply.

"I'm a Time Lord, " he reminded her, "I've had many lifetimes and many loves."

She nodded.

"I know that," she replied, and then she leant over him and kissed him, then she placed her hand on his shirt and slid it downwards, and as she got to his belt he quickly spoke up.

"Now isn't the time for distractions."

"I know that too," she added, and he smiled as he caught a look of frustration in her eyes.

"Wait until later, when I'm out of these cuffs," he said, and he gave her a wink.

"Maybe I like you in them," she replied.

"No," he told her, "If anyone is taking prisoners around here, its going to be _me_...later. Now I want you to go outside and check we landed in the right place – we should be at or near your house, but after the trouble we had landing I can't be sure."

"Okay," she replied, and then she laughed as she looked to the cuffs that held him.

"At least you won't be flying off without me now," she said.

"Very funny," he replied, and gave her a weary look, "You don't have to worry Tina, I'm not going anywhere. Not without you, I'm decided now."

She smiled.

"That makes me happier," she replied, "That's all I needed to hear."

Then she left the room, and the Doctor lay there cuffed to the bed, waiting for the chance to face his personal demon and fight it off once and for all.

* * *

The wait was not a long one. Tina had been gone less than five minutes when a familiar voice spoke up again.

" _I never knew you could be so imaginative. Is this for my benefit? Because I'm intrigued, Doctor."_

He looked sharply to the doorway, tensing as he struggled against his restraints for a moment as the Master walked over, coming closer to the bed. Then he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing himself to be calm.

"You're not real!" he said sharply, "You're not here!"

The Master stood at the side of his bed and looked down at him.

"Shame I'm not Missy. She would have loved a good go with you,"he remarked, "And in that position she would have taken what she wanted – I don't think you would have needed much persuasion...not after she got to work on you. But she's not here, so you'll have to make do with me," and he smiled as his eyes glittered with malice, "Let me see...Doctor cuffed to bed, Master walks in the room, only person who can save you thinks I'm not real – which I am, by the way. I _am_ real...Oh, this is going to be _so_ much fun! I'm going to torture you _very_ slowly. And who knows, I may even enjoy it!"

The Doctor looked up at him defiantly.

"You're not real," he stated, "And sooner or later you will disappear back into my over active imagination!"

"Really?" said the Master, "I'll vanish, will I? Tell me, will _this_ vanish too?"

His hand moved like a blur, striking the Doctor's face.

 _The pain was sharp and stung like crazy._

 _The pain was real._

As the Doctor looked at him in horror, the Master laughed.

"The look on your face!" he exclaimed as he caught his breath and laughed again, "Yes, I _am_ real! Really really, _really_ real! As real as real can get!"

And he pushed back his sleeve and showed him a watch with an intricate outer dial.

"It's all synced up!" he exclaimed proudly, "A very, _very_ good cloaking device. It's all linked to me and my ship, it's even linked to that tracking device I shot into your head!"

The Doctor stared at him.

"You _shot_ me?"

He struggled against the cuffs again but then stopped, knowing cut and bruised wrists were the last thing he needed. These cuffs were old, and if he got the tension just right at the right moment, he could probably bust them wide apart...he held on to that thought as his old enemy spoke again.

"Yes I did," the Master replied, "I locked on to your ship, broke into your Tardis and shot a tracking device into your head. That's how I haven't lost track of you despite your best efforts to out run me."

"The scanner can't see the device because -"

"It's invisible!" the Master cut in gleefully, "Oh, and I think I ought to mention that I have an option to explode it if I so wish. But I won't be doing that just yet. I want to have some _fun_ before I kill you!"

Tina hurried back into the room.

"Doctor, we are way off the mark – we landed in the town about eleven miles from my place."

"Never mind that," he said, looking to the empty space next to the bed and then back to Tina, "Get me out of these cuffs! I was wrong about everything!"

She joined the Master at his bedside, standing beside him unable to see him.

"Doctor, this was your idea. Let's just see it through. I know you _think_ you can see him, you just looked next to me like there's someone there – I know there isn't!"

"He was projecting his image before," he said as he struggled with the cuffs, "But this time, he's here. He told me he has a cloaked device that renders his ship invisible, he can use it on himself and also on the tracking device he shot into my head!"

Tina gave him a weary look.

"He's not real, you said so!"

Frustration burned in the Doctor's eyes.

"Think back, Tina! You said you felt someone physically brush past you, and he just hit me and it was real! He's physically in this room with us."

The Master took a small, clear device from his pocket that resembled a pistol.

"I shot you with this," he said, "And only this device can remove the tracker from your head. Obviously, you're not getting your hands on it."

The Doctor looked back at Tina as he breathlessly struggled again.

"The tracking device contains an explosive – he's going to kill me with it when he's finished toying with us, get me _out_ of these cuffs!"

Tina stared at him.

"But he's not real...we both know that, you're imagining all of this!"

"Did you imagine me freezing as I fell backwards when the console blew? That was him, shooting me with the tracking device!"

She thought back, recalled how the Doctor had been thrown back and for a few seconds had frozen there, as suddenly a tiny hole appeared in his temple and blood trickled from the wound.

"Oh god...where _are_ the keys?" she exclaimed, searching pockets of her acid wash, tight jeans and finding nothing. Then she reached up to the shirt that was tied at her waist and found that pocket to be empty too.

"I...I must have put them somewhere..."

As she began to frantically search, the Doctor heard the Master laugh and saw he was now at the doorway.

"See you soon, old man," he said darkly, and turned and walked away.

"Got 'em!" Tina announced as she fished out the keys from her jacket pocket. As she turned back to the bed, the Doctor paused to gather his strength and pulled hard on the cuffs, which snapped open sharply.

"How did you do that?" she asked in surprise.

He sat up and rubbed at his wrists.

"These cuffs are old, it wasn't as impressive as it looked. And the Master just walked out the door."

Then he got up, paused to rub his aching wrists, and then put on his leather jacket. As he headed for the door that led to the corridor, Tina followed.

"What are going to do?" she asked him, "I mean, he could be anywhere now..."

"We will find him," the Doctor replied, "He's out there somewhere, and he's waiting for a chance to make his next move. I can't let him get that far, because he means to kill us both."

And then he quickened his pace as he headed towards the console room and the Tardis door beyond it, and Tina hurried to keep up with him as he walked on with purpose, his mind now set on finding and stopping his old enemy before the Master's yearning for revenge put an end to both of them...

* * *

They left the Tardis together, stepping out at the edge of a park. Beyond it, there was a town shopping centre, and as they headed for the main road, Tina looked about the familiar rows of shops and breathed a relived sigh.

"At least we got back to earth safely. And I know where we are. It shouldn't be too hard to find him now."

"But I'm the only one who can see him," the Doctor reminded her, "And I have to find him because he's put a time bomb inside my head and he can kill me any time he chooses. I need his watch, too – that controls the cloaking device that he's synced to everything. Once that's turned off and I get the pistol off him I can remove the tracker. I have to find him, my life depends on it."

They crossed the street and came to a row of shops that looked old – here there was an antique store, next to it a book store, then a news agents and the last two shops at the end of the row were clothing stores. The Doctor looked to the other end of the long road, where many more stores lined the way.

"He could be anywhere," Tina said.

"But he wants to follow me,"the Doctor replied, "He won't let me out of his sight. So I suggest we slow down and don't rush. Let him stay close by, he's enjoying the chase." Then he indicated to the antique store.

"I'll linger in there for a while, you go next door and do the same in the book store. Let's see how long he can hold back before he feels compelled to start tormenting me again."

Tina cast him a worried glance.

"If I need you I'll shout."

"Same here," he replied, and then he went into the antique store, and Tina headed for the book store beside it.

* * *

As the Doctor went into the shop, the bell above the door jingled but no one was at the counter.

"Hello?" he called out, and on getting no reply, walked to the middle of the store and looked around, seeing paintings and old china, and some silverware on display beneath a glass cabinet. The place smelled of age and seemed exactly as he expected it to be – until he looked to the far end of the room, where he noticed a collection of old clocks and saw none of them were working, all were standing silent, their hands frozen at differing times...

He looked closer at the largest, a grandfather clock.

"Strange..." he murmured, and then he looked over to the wide glass window, where the display was full of plates and figurines and more clocks that didn't tick. He stepped closer, looking through the glass at the street beyond the window – and that was when he noticed something odd:

 _No people._

 _No cars on the road._

 _Not even a single bird taking flight in the clear blue sky..._

"What is going on?" he said, and he took out his sonic screwdriver and adjusted the setting, then held it out, trying to see what he could learn about this too-quiet street in what should have been a busy town.

* * *

As Tina entered the book store, an old woman who sat at the counter smiled in greeting.

"Hello," she said kindly, "It's been so quiet today you're my first customer!"

Tina glanced over her shoulder, looking back at the empty street through the glass door, then she went up to the counter.

"You're right about that. It's never this quiet around here."

"So, what brings you to my shop?" the old lady asked as she smiled warmly.

"I was just looking," she said, feeling a little guilty about lying to a sweet old dear behind the counter with a grey perm and a pearl necklace over a smart blouse with fancy buttons, she had the kind of look about her that made Tina think _grandmother._

"I've got the perfect book for you!" the old woman exclaimed, "I think you'll like it. Why don't you go over there in the corner by the window, where there's a table, you can sit down and have a nice read. I always say try before you buy."

And she reached under the counter and handed her a book.

"Thanks," Tina replied, and she took the book over to the table and sat down, feeling glad she now had a perfect excuse to hang about in here like the Doctor had asked her to do.

Tina put the book on the table and noticed something odd:

There was no title. There was nothing but a blank cover.

"Weird..."she murmured, and then she opened the book.

As she saw the title on the first page in tall letters, her face paled as she read words that told her this was no ordinary book store. The title that had chilled her to the bone was stated in big, bold, lettering:

 _Why the Master Always Wins_...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tina was still looking down at the page as she heard someone approaching, and she knew at once that the old lady wouldn't be there – the Master would be there, because he had made this illusion... Her hand shook as she turned the pages of the book, seeing the same message on every single one:

 _THE MASTER ALWAYS WINS, BECAUSE HE CAN._

"That's right, you guessed," he said, "There is no old lady. Just me and my illusions."

She dropped the book and the chair scraped back loudly as she stood up and backed away from the man in the dark suit.

"Something wrong?" he asked, sounding amused, "I would have thought we would have been friends – I mean, I was _Missy_ last time we met and you couldn't _wait_ to open your legs and let _her_ have a fondle!"

"And I was young and wild and it meant _nothing_ to me!" she snapped.

"Oh, but the Doctor means a _lot_ to you," the Master replied, and he stepped closer and she backed off, not daring to look away and take him out of her line of sight as she wondered how far it was from where she stood to the shop door, her only route of escape...

He smiled as he took another step forward.

"I'm going to kill him, but first I'm going to have some fun! I'm going to have fun with both of you and this party has only just got started. You haven't worked it out, have you? You're not back on earth! You walked out of the Doctor's Tardis and into mine, welcome to my holo world!"

As he laughed manically, she turned and bolted for the door, tore it open and ran out into the street.

* * *

As the Doctor heard Tina yelling, he left the antiques store and hurried out to meet her.

"He was there," she said, indicating to the now empty book store, "And he said crazy stuff... that we're not on earth, and this is his Tardis...this is all an illusion! How can that be true, I _know_ I'm back on earth!"

"Actually," the Doctor said, "We're not. According to the readings I got from my sonic, it seems we _are_ on board his Tardis and inside a massive three dimensional hologram chamber that's been programmed to resemble earth. If we walk far enough, we'll hit an invisible barrier, we'll find the walls. But as for finding the door – I'm not sure that can be done. He's got this place put together very cleverly. And I _still_ need to find him."

He looked into the window of the book store, saw no way out from the back of the shop, and then he turned to Tina and lowered his voice.

"The fact that you could see him means he wasn't projecting a hologram or using the invisibility device. He's probably turned it back on now, but he's not in the store because I can't see him – and I can see him all the time when he's present, even if he's throwing out as hologram."

"So what do we do?" she asked him, and as she spoke she looked around again, thinking how crazy it seemed that they were actually on board the Master's Tardis – when everything around her looked so real she struggled to believe they were not actually back on earth.

"We need to start walking," he said to her, "We have to find the walls. And then, _if_ we're lucky, we might even find the door to the rest of the ship."

The Doctor began to walk up the street and Tina walked with him, looking about nervously as she felt the stillness of the place, and the more she felt it and saw the place was too quiet, the more she came to accept this was indeed _not_ earth...

* * *

They walked on towards the end of the street.

"This is creepy," Tina whispered as she glanced about at what appeared to be a ghost town. The Doctor looked to the empty shops and deserted streets, there was no sign of life anywhere.

"I'm glad its finally sunk in that we're not on earth," he said to her, "Because this is the Master's world – and I can't begin to tell you how much trouble we're in."

"I already know that," Tina replied, sounding tense, "We're in his holographic world, he could be hiding anywhere and then there's the small matter of the explosive tracking device he shot into your head. So much for our happy ending. Yeah, I'd say its all sunk in now..."and she shivered as she kept on walking at the Doctor's side, looking about the deserted town where nothing was as it seemed.

As they reached the town square, a light went on in the upstairs floor of a nearby store and then turned off again. The Doctor's dark eyes narrowed as he fixed his sights on it and thought of his old enemy.

"More games, Master?" he said in a low voice, "You started this but I'll finish it!"

" _Wait!"_

He turned back and there was a spark of anger in his eyes as he looked to his jacket, where Tina had grabbed for him.

"Sorry," she said and let go, "Please don't go in there alone. Let me come with you."

The Doctor looked back to the building:

It was part of what looked to be a large department store, and it towered above the other shops. The room where the light had been seen was one level below the roof top...

"This holographic world is three dimensional and as long as the program is active, everything here is solid," he reminded her, "He wants me up there for a reason – I'm guessing because there's a trap waiting on that floor, or he's thinking it will be a long way to fall from the roof top. Oh, he's _really_ losing his touch if he thinks I'm going to walk into this and not see his plan!"

"You really should carry a gun," Tina reminded him.

"No!" the Doctor replied, then he kissed her cheek.

"I'm going up there,"he said, "Don't worry – I'll be careful. I want you to keep walking ahead, because according to the signal from my sonic screwdriver, there's a wall close by."

She looked down the street and then back at him.

"I see no wall. What do you want me to do, walk into it?"

"Well that would be one way of finding it," he replied, "And if you do find that door, leave it open and keep going."

Confusion clouded her eyes.

"Going where?"

"Deeper into his Tardis. If you can reach his console room you can shut this fun house of his down."

"How?"she exclaimed, "Isn't that your job?"

"My first job," the Doctor replied as he looked to the tall building, "Is to stop the Master."

As she looked to the Time Lord who had spoken as if this was an age old battle that had been fought many times before, she felt her throat go tight as she feared for him.

"And maybe my first job is to look out for you,"she replied.

He met her gaze and she instantly knew he would not allow her to do that.

"No," he said softly as he shook his head, "I can't allow that, Tina. It was supposed to be different now – no more trouble, no more enemies to fight." He paused and took hold of her hands, and as a breeze shifted through the street and ruffled his hair, it was hard to believe everything inside this world was manufactured by the Master, it was moments like this, those brief snatches of reminders of the real world, that almost made her forget the truth.

"Tina, it's like this," he said, "I've lost people before, people I've cared about -"

"And you won't lose me! I waited almost thirty years for you, do you really think I'm going to let the Master walk in and destroy what we have?"

Fondness reflected in his eyes along with sadness as he gave his answer.

"I'm not trying to spare myself pain. This isn't about me. If I were selfish, I'd ask you to come with me and watch out for me and who knows, take a bullet for me? But I won't do that, because I'm not like that. And I have lost too many people."

"How many?"she said in a hushed voice.

That look of pain was reflecting in his eyes again.

"How many?" he repeated, "How would you like the list, alphabetical, or chronological? There have been too many. And loss is something that belongs in my past – not here with us and not in our future. Don't worry about me. I'll see you soon, leave the door open when you find it, I'll catch up."

Then he let go of her hands, turned away and hurried off towards the building in the distance.

"Good luck," Tina said as she watched him leave, then she turned back to the view of the empty street ahead, and took in a deep breath.

"Okay, " she said aloud, "I'll do it, Doctor. I'll do what you said and keep on walking - until I hit a wall..."

* * *

The Doctor hurried into the store, passing perfume counters and a downstairs clothing section. This place was a perfect copy, a copy of everything he had seen on earth in the town near Tina's house – clearly, he had wanted every detail to be perfect, how like the Master... He just hoped there was some small part of the plan he had not thought out so well, and that perhaps while he was busy making the replica he had forgotten the most important part of the scheme – exactly how he planned to kill his arch enemy...

"You've made a mistake somewhere, I know you too well," he murmured as he headed towards a lift, guessing that if the Master wanted to lure him upwards, there would be no trap here on the ground floor. Then as the doors opened before he pushed the button, he stepped back, looked about and saw a sign for a fire exit.

The stairs seemed a safer option all of a sudden, because those doors had opened a little too keenly. He left the ground floor by the open fire exit door, and began the climb that would take him three floors to the place where he had seen the light at the window.

Halfway up, the Doctor stopped climbing and looked upwards through the stairwell to the floors above.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that I'm an old man!" he called up as his own voice echoed back at him, "I _am_ old, Master – but this body is as young and strong as my mind is old and wise! And this is another battle you _will_ lose!"

Again, only his own voice echoed back at him.

He waited, watching and listening, but caught no sight of the Master at the top of the stair well, nor did he hear the mocking laughter he was expecting to hear. The Doctor kept his sights fixed on the next floor, and kept climbing the stairway.

* * *

Tina had walked on down the street, and kept walking – until she had suddenly slammed into something invisible that felt solid, and then she had staggered back, shaken and swearing under her breath. Then she stood still, looking ahead but seeing nothing but the street and the shops in front of her.

" _No way..."_ she whispered, then she reached out and cautiously touched the invisible wall with her hand. It felt smooth and solid, and as her palm made contact, the view ahead shimmered like a pebble had just hit water. The sight of the shimmering, rippling view was dizzying, so she looked away from it, kept her hand on the invisible wall and started walking, running her hand along the smoothness of it, until that smoothness broke.

Then she turned to the wall she could not see, tried to forget that the hologram made it seem that she was standing in the middle of what was usually a busy road, and she placed both hands on it, discovering the shape of a door. As she found the handle and pressed on it, the door swung open, and that was when she really felt alarmed:

 _She was in the middle of the road, in a place that looked exactly like her home town, and in the middle of that road, was a door and that door was now open and led to a silver corridor..._

She looked back into the distance and hoped the Doctor would find her in time as she recalled his instructions. No doubt the Master was set on following the Doctor, and if he was, she would not be where he was going – and perhaps, if she was lucky, she would have enough time to find that console room and figure out a way to shut down the hologram system.

She left the door open and stepped inside.

Looking back at the illusion of the town behind her was disorienting, so she turned away from that view and walked down the corridor, as she walked she realised this was much like the winding corridors of the Doctor's Tardis – except these were metallic and starkly lit.

And suddenly the corridor was shrinking.

" _What?"_ she said aloud, looking back and seeing the distance to the open door was just the same as it had been three paces ago.

"No...NO!" she said angrily as her voice echoed about the corridor, "I am _not_ playing these games with you!"

But there was only one door left, and a moment ago there had been no door and no dead end, but now there was, and on the handle of that door was a note with a message written on it:

OPEN ME.

Tina hesitated, recalling all she had learned from the Doctor about his own Tardis. He had once said it could repair itself when suffering damage. So that meant, what? That it was smart? Perhaps that meant the Master's Tardis was also capable of its own abilities – and if the Master was bad, did that mean his Tardis was capable of evil tricks?

She drew in a deep breath as she recalled the Doctor's instructions.

"I have to find that console room," she whispered, "I have to..."

And she opened the door and stepped inside, and was momentarily blinded by brilliant light, as she blinked she heard the door slam behind her, and then as her eyes became used to the sunlight, she saw this room was another illusion:

She was in the middle of a field. There was a table set up and covered with a lace cloth, and on that table was an old fashioned china teapot, a jug of milk and cups and saucers set out for two.

And standing at that table was the Master.

He smiled but the look in his eyes was one of pure ice.

" _Well done, Tina,"_ he said coldly, _"You found me."_

* * *

The Doctor had reached the floor below the rooftop. As he opened up the door and looked inside, he found an empty room. Frustration burned in his eyes as he looked about and saw nothing but wooden boards on the floor and four bare walls, and the window where he had seen the light – where of course, there was now no trace of anything to have made that light burn so brightly.

He went to the window and looked out, and then he saw in the distance, in the middle of what looked like a perfect copy of the town – there in the middle of the road, in the middle of a wide, urban main road – was a door and that door was open and it led to a metallic corridor.

" _Hello, Doctor!"_

He turned sharply to see the Master was now standing in the doorway. He stepped into the room and regarded him coldly as a smile of satisfaction tugged at his lips.

"That's right," he said, "I'm here. Or am I down there? You see, I've turned off the invisibility cloak. So that means you and Tina can both see me – _and_ my own holographic image, where I ever choose to project it. So, " he paused, stepping closer to the Doctor, "Ask yourself: Am I the real Master, or a projection?"

The Doctor stared at him for a moment, and then he shook his head.

"I don't care which you are," he said darkly, "This game will end - and it will be me who ends it. I've given you too many chances and this is your last warning: _End this now or I end you, for the sake of the rest of the universe!_ "

Amusement danced in the Master's eyes as he laughed.

"You haven't changed. Or maybe you have just a little bit, Doctor – you used to have forgiveness in your heart. It gives me hope to know that you now feel hatred for me."

"I don't hate you," the Doctor replied as he took a step closer, looking him in the eye without a flicker of fear, "But I am getting old and I'm weary of the battles and I want this universe to be a safer place once and for all – if I have to kill you to gain that assurance I will do it out of necessity, but not out of malice. I'll do it for the greater good of all life everywhere, because that's the kind of man I've now evolved to be. It's your call. _End it now or I will_."

The Master chuckled as he held up the device that looked like a pistol. He indicated to its hollow chamber.

"One squeeze of this could remove that tracking device from your head – and cancel out the chance of you carrying around a time bomb," he said, "Or I could give this little button on the top a push and it's all over for you. But I'm not going to do either of those things, can you guess why?"

The Doctor glared at him.

"What have you done?" he demanded, knowing that victorious look that was burning in the Master's eyes only too well.

"I've separated you from Tina," the Master said, "I have you both trapped and this was _exactly_ how I planned it, too. You walked into my trap, Doctor," then he leant a little closer and smiled as he radiated smug satisfaction, _"The real me is down there, deep inside my Tardis,"_ he said mockingly, _"And I also have your girlfriend."_

A look of alarm registered in the Doctor's eyes, and then he dashed for the door, yelling for Tina as he ran, passing through the laughing hologram of the Master, whose mocking laughter filled the stairwell as the Doctor hurried down, heading for the exit as he thought of Tina and hoped she was still alive...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As the Doctor ran through the open doorway in the middle of the hologram road and then went up the metallic corridor, he wondered how he could possibly hope to find his way around a Tardis that did not belong to him. This was the Master's ship – and he didn't doubt that _only_ the Master could successfully navigate these long and winding corridors. He had no clue where the console room could be – the door he had entered through had been somewhere near the back of the vast ship, and it could be a long way to the control room – or not. There was no way of knowing exactly how far away he was from the place he needed to be to shut down the hologram system...

As he reached the end of the corridor and it turned right, he paused, looked about and saw no doorways. Then he blinked, and the walls shimmered, slid about – and suddenly, there _were_ doorways.

"What?" he said aloud, "What _is_ this?"

The Doctor tried each one of the doors and found them to be locked – and on looking to the place where the corridor turned, he saw it now turned left instead of right.

 _These walls could shift?_

 _The Master had programmed his Tardis interior to constantly alter shape and form to confuse intruders?_

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and activated it, but the only reading he could get told him the walls were shifting according to a program run by the control room. He thought again of Tina, and hoped the Master had been lying when he said she was his prisoner, and then he kept the sonic screwdriver activated, letting it guide him slowly around the winding tunnels, a pulse that flashed from the device was becoming stronger now, indicating this was certainly the right way to reach the power source, but he had no clue how long this route would take to travel...

* * *

In the place where the three dimensional world was shimmering under a hot sun, the Master sat down at the table and gestured to the chair opposite and and smiled at Tina.

"You might as well sit and wait with me while the Doctor catches up," he said, and then as she sat down, he drew the pistol from his pocket and held it up, indicating to the hollow chamber within.

"If you put this to his head and pulled the trigger, it would draw out that tracking device and render the explosive useless," he told her, "But of course, you won't get the chance to do that." Then he put the pistol away and began to pour tea. Tina sat there, glaring at him as she thought of all he had done to wreck their happiness.

"Why?" she said coldly.

The Master poured a second cup of tea and then set the pot down.

"Why? Because I want to kill him, of course!"

"No,"she said, and now no fear showed in her eyes nor sounded in her voice, "I mean, why did you decide to come after him now?"

The Master paused for thought.

"It was such a long time ago when this feud between us began, it's hard to recall how it started," he replied, "But he was there, every time I tried to assert my power he was there to stop me. And now the universe has gone quiet with the passing of time, the wars are finished, the bones of most of his enemies are blown to dust. There's just me left now. Me and a great big heavy grudge against the man who stopped me at every turn through so many lifetimes. Imagine how I felt when I found out he was still alive, and now happy he was with you. Just _think_ about it for a moment, do you think I might have been a _tiny_ bit angry about that?"

"I don't see why," she replied, "I mean, what is there to envy?"

The Master looked across the table at her.

"Do you see anyone at my side?" he said bitterly, "Here I am, lifetimes later and _still_ alone!"

" _Maybe that's because you're a bastard."_

There was a murderous look in the eyes of the Master, and then as he saw she was smiling, his anger faded away.

"Are you flirting with me, Tina? I thought the Doctor and the girl who got away with murder were happy together."

"Maybe you thought wrong,"she replied, "I mean, he's not the man I fell in love with back in his Twelfth life. He's regenerated, he's changed. _Maybe_ he's not my type any more."

The Master had listened doubtfully to her words, but the look in her eyes was one he found hard to read.

"I want you to be telling the truth," he said to her, "Because even though you've got older - and lets face it, you humans don't age well – I could still have a go with you. I remember what you tasted like. I believe that changes as a woman gets older – bit like a fine wine, isn't it?"

"Why not find out?" she said, and then she sipped her tea and giggled, looked to the Master and then down at the table.

"I think I'll finish my tea first," he replied, and then he paused to loosen his tie as a gleam of triumph shone in his eyes.

"I always knew you'd come back for more,"he said to her, "You wanted me when I was a woman and you still want me now – it's just _me_ , you can't resist me...that's understandable, of course..." And he looked to the distance, where holographic trees lined the horizon.

"I like this world I've made," he said to her, "And best of all, after I've killed the Doctor, there will be just the two of us left here to enjoy it!"

"Great," she replied, avoiding his gaze as she looked down at the steaming hot tea and tried and failed to stop giggling.

The Master smiled, finding her laughter infectious.

"I know, you're just glad you chose _my_ side in the end."

"Actually," Tina replied as she kept her gaze downwards, "I was just thinking about something the Doctor said – about how everything in this place is _real_ as long as the holo program runs."

The Master looked at her in confusion.

"I don't get the joke."

"No?" she said sweetly, "Give it a minute, because I just did... you _will_ get it!"

And as she got up she grabbed for the teapot, her hand moving like a blur as the china came rushing at his face, connected with a crack and as the china broke and the scaling liquid flew about, the Master off his seat and on his back, stunned by the blow and by the pain as blood ran from a cut to his scorched cheek.

He looked up at a manufactured, perfect sky and saw Tina standing over him.

"Bastard!" she spat, "Do you get it now? I'm on _his_ side!"

And she reached into his pocket and drew out the pistol, then she stepped over him, and just as the Master had come to his senses and the pain had kicked in, all he could do was clutch at his injured face and yell in anger as she ran off and hit a button, opening up the doorway to the corridor, and then she was gone.

* * *

The Doctor had followed the signal to the console room, which had been much closer than he had first imagined – as the pulse from the screwdriver had intensified, the walls had shifted, then jammed by the closeness of the Doctor's signal and had frozen, and the door to the console room had opened up.

He left the door open and went inside, and over the the Master's console, where he studied buttons and levers and dials as he figured out the functions, because _this_ Tardis was very different to his own. He quickly worked out how to regain control of his shield system, and then he rewrote the Master's program, and then began to search for a way to shut down the holo world. After hitting a few buttons, he soon saw a message come up on the monitor asking if shut down of the holo program was desired.

 _Yes_ , he typed.

 _Password?_ Asked the monitor.

The Doctor gave a heavy sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, then he began to work quickly, his fingers a blur as he tried one Gallifreyan phrase after another.

"This," he said under his breath, "Could take some time..."

And he continued to work, knowing time was one thing this Time Lord couldn't afford to waste...

* * *

As Tina saw the open doorway and the welcome sight of the Doctor inside, his back to her as he tried to crack the password, she felt a huge surge of relief.

"I've got it!" she said, and he glanced over his shoulder and saw the device in her hand.

"One minute," he told her, and he looked back to the monitor, and typed again.

 _Holo Program Deactivated_ , said the message on the screen.

He breathed a relived sigh and turned to Tina, who was now standing at his side.

"That's put an end to his fun house," he said, "I just closed down the hologram program."

"How will we find the Tardis again?" she asked.

He indicated to a silver pipe that snaked through a wall above a second door.

"Through there. That's our link to my Tardis – the Master attached it when he used the invisibility device to latch on to my ship. He downed my shields and upped his, locking us in. That's reversed now."

"Reversed?" she said, looking at him in confusion.

The Doctor explained his plan:

"I just reprogrammed his console to react to disconnection by downing his shields and raising ours – through that door is the open door to the Tardis, and we get ten seconds to get through it before the two ships separate and the Master's Tardis becomes a vacuum. I'm assuming he wants to live and his will to do so is stronger than his desire to pursue me, it would take him a split second to hit a button on the console and regain his shield system. He's in no danger unless he chooses to be."

"So your Tardis and his are joined by -"

"Two open doors, yes – and a shield system," he said, "Without that system, outer space will claim the undefended ship. But I don't think he would be insane enough to want to kill himself just to get to me. He's always been too selfish and cowardly to willingly bring about his own demise, even for his ultimate goal."

"I wish his ultimate goal didn't involve you," Tina replied.

"Well it does, and we have to put a stop to this now," the Doctor said, "And I will stop it, because that's what I do best – I defeat evil." And he smiled and so did she, but then as he looked at the device in her hand, his smile faded.

"I suppose I'd better get on with it. I can't afford to wait. He still has the control button to explode the tracking device."

As he took the pistol from her she looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I hit him hard but he wasn't out cold. It was all I could do to grab the device."

"And you did well, Tina," he said, and he looked down at the device in his hand and then into her eyes.

"I just have to line this up and squeeze the trigger and it will pull out the tracker, rendering it useless. But if I miss..."

" _You won't."_

Tina had said that wounding so sure, but he saw real fear in her eyes.

"Obviously if I do miss, I'll die," he added, "Maybe I'll regenerate, maybe not. I love you."

"I love you too," she replied as she blinked away tears, "And you won't miss, because if you do, if you kill yourself -"

"You'll never forgive me?" he guessed.

"If you die on me now, I am _so_ finished with you!" she said as her voice choked with emotion.

The Doctor briefly smiled.

"Only you could be so amusing at a time like this."

Then his smile faded and he placed the gun against his temple.

"Is it over the scar?" he said quietly.

Her hand shook as she raised it and guided the gun a fraction over, bringing it on to the mark.

"It's lined up now," she said in a hushed voice.

The Doctor drew in a deep breath and reached for her hand.

"I _can_ do this," he whispered as fear reflected in his eyes, and then as she took hold of his hand, his other held the gun steady to his temple, and the Doctor pulled the trigger. There was a loud _crack_ and he grabbed at Tina's hand tightly as he gave a cry of pain and sunk to his knees.

The gun slid from his grip and fell to the floor as Tina knelt down with him, wrapping her arms around him as she saved him from falling, holding him there as she wept and a trickle of blood ran from his temple.

"I don't want to lose you," she said tearfully, and as she pulled back and saw his eyes were closed, she ran her hand over his hair and then stroked his cheek.

"Don't die, not now! Please, I waited so long for you! And you're so handsome, you have this new regeneration and you have beautiful eyes and your hair is amazing and you don't know how good you look...and I'll _never_ find anyone like you again, you're the wisest, kindest man -"

" _Tina..."_

Tears were running down her face as relief shone in her eyes to see he was now awake once more.

"Three things," the Doctor said as he pulled back from her embrace, "Firstly, the device is in the chamber. I made it..."

She looked down at the gun on the floor, and there in the transparent chamber was a tiny, silver device.

"And secondly," he added "Thanks for all the nice things you just said about me when you thought I was dead."

She smiled as she shook her head.

"What was I supposed to think? You pulled the trigger and went down on the floor like you'd shot your brains out!"

And she grabbed his hands and helped him to his feet.

"But it's over now," she said, and she smiled again, "You're okay now, we just need to get out of here."

"Which brings me to point number three," the Doctor added, _"The Master is behind us and he looks like he's going to kill us both..."_ And he glanced over her shoulder, and as she turned around she gave a gasp, meeting the glare of the Master, whose eyes were full of murderous rage...


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Master was standing there, glaring angrily at his oldest enemy and the woman who stood beside him. Murderous rage was burning in his gaze as blood ran from the wound to his scalded cheek and he spoke with bitterness:

"You will not escape me," he said darkly as he stepped closer, "You will not win this time, Doctor!"

The Doctor looked to the Master's console, then back at his arch enemy.

"Listen, I have to warn you – I have reprogrammed the shield system locking our Tardises together. If I break this seal..." he reached up and tugged on a flimsy but shiny metallic pipe, "You lose shields and I gain mine back, we break free and you and your ship are lost. _Let us go!_ "

"Never!" the Master said darkly, and as he lunged forward, the Doctor knew the Master was beyond reason now.

As they collided and fought, Tina looked on in horror as the two men traded punches and struggled together, and as the Master pinned the Doctor against the place where the two doors were interlocked, a smile came to the Master's lips.

"I think it's safe to say I win this one," he said, and as he kept a hand clamped about the Doctor's throat, he drew a long, thin dagger from his pocket.

"Let's see how many times I need to stab you to kill all your remaining lives," he added.

And the Doctor was still pinned to the door way, there was a bruise to his cheek and a look in his eyes as he glanced to Tina, a look that said he was sorry it had come to this, a situation he never could have predicted at a time when he had assumed that all his enemies were long dead...

The Doctor struggled for air and managed to speak despite the hand about his throat.

"It doesn't have to end like this. We can reach some level of understanding...we must, after all these years...let's end it differently..."

The Master squeezed his throat harder in reply and the Doctor gave a cry of pain as it became harder to breathe.

"No," hissed the Master, and his breath was hot on his face as he leaned in, speaking in a low voice as he kept a tight grip on the dagger, "It ends _my_ way, when _I_ end it because that is what _I_ do!"

And he drew back the dagger and the Doctor closed his eyes, bracing himself for the fatal blow.

" _No!"_ Tina yelled, and she threw herself between them, grabbed at the pipe and ripped the connection apart.

* * *

As the ship began to shake and the Master was thrown backwards, there was a look of panic in his eyes.

The two Tardises began to separate, floating free of one another by a fraction as the Doctor grabbed Tina and dragged her through the doors and into the safety of his own Tardis, and as the shield began to shimmer, confirming they were safe, he held on to her tightly, looking to the open doors of the other ship.

" _Shut down the locking command, set up your shields!"_ the Doctor shouted, but the Master was still stunned as he staggered to his feet and watched as the two blue boxes separated, leaving space between them, and as his own shield system tried and failed to sustain and lights flashed red in warning, he could only watch as the Doctor yelled at him to save himself, hearing no words because the Doctors shield system had cut off all sound to the other vessel.

" _Save yourself!"_ he yelled again.

"Seven, eight, nine..." Tina was counting under her breath, counting down the seconds the Master had left to survive.

"Ten.." she finally said, and the Master's shields crumbled and the ship was drawn off into deep space as he clung to his console, doors open as all gravity failed. The Master's ship was floating off, far away, and the Doctor was watching from the safety of his own open Tardis door, where his shields were working normally and they had a too perfect view of what could possibly be the last moments of his oldest enemy, as his ship was left wide open to the ravages of space, until it became a tiny shape far off in the distance, and then it was gone.

* * *

The Doctor breathed a heavy sigh and turned from the doors, which closed at once, and then he walked over to the console with Tina, where he leant on the control panel for a moment, his dark eyes filling with tears of regret.

"I wanted to save him."

"You couldn't have saved him now or last week or a thousand years ago," she reminded him, "You know why? Because he doesn't _want_ to be saved, Maybe he's dead, maybe not. But all I care about is that you made it, and you're okay."

He turned to her and looked into her eyes, and he knew that she was right. This human who did not have the life span or the knowledge of a Time Lord certainly understood all he needed to take in and remember:

 _Yes, the Master was beyond redemption and always had been..._

"It's over now,"she reminded him, "Doctor, "It's okay, it's over."

He gave a sigh as he embraced her, and for a while they stayed together as the Tardis moved on, drifting peacefully through space, and then as he let go of her, the look of sadness was gone from his eyes.

"Let's not talk about him again," he said to her, "He belongs in the past. Let's look forward now,"

She smiled.

"So, where were we?"

"All of time and space?" he offered, and she nodded.

"Sounds good to me,"she replied.

The Doctor threw a lever and the ship shifted dimension, once again travelling through a time vortex of swirling colours, and this time, they had no worries about where they would end up or who they might run into.

It was going to be fine, because that had made that decision together, and if it wasn't fine, they would cope with it anyway.

As they travelled on Tina looked to the Doctor and as their eyes met, she reached for his hand and he took her hand in a gentle grip and together they watched the passage of the vortex, taking in its beauty, and welcoming the thought of what wonders might lie on the other side.

No one had ever said this life would be perfect, but at least from now on, it was going to get better.

End.

 **Author Note: This concludes the sequel, it was fun to write and I hope its been enjoyed by all readers :-)**


End file.
